Viewpoint

America is 2076: The rosy version

Let’s forget our forlorn present and try to imagine a very optimistic future for our country. This essay is based upon extrapolating current trends, knowledge, and movements into the future. My purpose is to dispel some of the gloom that affects our body politic.

As America’s 525 million people enter the year 2076, the tricentennial year, their nation is prosperous, proud, and at peace both domestically and abroad. The gross domestic product is three times what it was in 2013, and the real per capita income, adjusted for inflation, has doubled since then.

America’s population has money to spend and our large population creates an enormous domestic market for the products of a myriad of new industries and services. Many of the top ten cities in population in 2013 have been replaced by several new ones that were not even on the list in 2013.

Consumer electronics, the number one industry now in terms of stock valuation, will still exist, but it will no longer be first. Three new industries, based upon technologies as yet undeveloped, will have replaced it.

A main product enjoyed by Monodnock region residents will be hologram summer guests. Summer visitors will no longer actually have to travel to be with us. Rather, their holograms will arrive instead. You can now sit with a dreaded summer visitor in a restaurant, enjoy a meal conversing with them, and not have to pay for it since hologram guests do not eat. No longer will we have to make beds and do laundry for them, since they will sleep each night thousands of miles away in their physical homes.

Biotechnology will advance with increased emphasis on quality of life. All diseased organs, joints, and bones, will be replaceable with artificial ones. No longer will a person have to wait for a natural heart, liver, or kidney, as artificial ones will be readily available. However, the cosmetics industry will have suffered a serious downturn since the development of replicable faces and skin.

A great moral issue being debated in 2076 will be that of replacing brains into other bodies in order to extend life indefinitely. Will it still be you if your brain is in another body?

All cars and trucks will drive themselves thus reducing to almost zero the number of vehicular deaths. The elderly will no long have the problem of having to give up driving.

Old self-driven vehicles will still be allowed on private roads and on public roads during special “Old Home” days, two to four times a year depending on state.

Life expectancy will be 98 for women and 94 for men with a less painful old age being the norm.

Advances in gene therapy will enable identification and treatment of most genetic based diseases during childhood, There will no longer be handicapped, deaf, or blind people. Genetic causes of mental illness and behavioral problems will be understood leading to superior quicker treatments.

Biometric locks on guns, which would disable a gun if the legitimate owner is not operating it or if the owner is drunk, under the influence of drugs, or angry, will have alleviated the issue of gun violence. Homicides by knives, clubs, arrows, bats, and spears will have gone up somewhat.

Advances in economic knowledge, particularly behavioral economics, will enable businesses, governments, and organizations to enjoy a more prosperous society. Accurate computer modeling will help avoid the dumb economic decision-making that so perplexed people in 2013.

A healthy three party system, with a new moderate, centrist party will have given voters more of a choice. Establishment of term limits for Congress will enable a constant rejuvenation of government by new leaders and new ideas. Career politicians will have died out.

Americans will no longer be classified by race, as the high level of intermarriage will have made such classifications meaningless. Most Americans would find it abhorrent to think that people were once jaded by their gender, color, weight, or ethnic DNA background.

Advances in the arts, music, literature, poetry, theater, and film will be enormous, as millions of people will engage in creative endeavours due to increased wealth and leisure time.

Some social critics will still discuss the continued decline of males, now only 20 percent of college students, and less than a quarter of CEOs, doctors and lawyers. Others will not see this as a problem.

Female accomplishments in sports will continue to accelerate. Female athletes will have broken all 2013 Olympic male records in track and field and swimming by 2076. The best female records will now be equal to 98 percent of top male athletes.

Female athletes will participate in all professional sports. The average female high school senior, due to advances in exercise and nutrition, will be six feet tall, one-inch more than male seniors.

The world will be at peace. America will have friendly relations with all nations. Iran will be a strong ally of the United States. Once Germany, Italy, and Japan were our enemies and now they are allies. A changed American-Iranian relationship is not far-fetched.

Permanent multi-national bases on the Moon and Mars, and manned voyages to Jupiter’s moons will increase scientific knowledge.

I hope these speculations cheer you up. My next essay will deal with the future taking a darker direction.